State employees will move into vacant office space in downtown Lansing

Over the past decade, the number of Michigan state government workers has shrunk, and that's left some state-owned buildings with lots of vacant space.

Now the state is hoping to fill in those gaps and save money at the same time.

The idea is to move some workers from leased offices across Lansing into Constitution Hall and the Mason Building. Both of those state-owned buildings will undergo renovations to prepare the new workspace.

Kurt Weiss is with the state. He says Constitution Hall is 30 percent vacant.

"So as you can imagine, as you're walking down some of those hallways, there's a lot of empty cubicles," he said.

He says the consolidation could save the state several million dollars each year.

"This is really all about state government trying to do what's right for the taxpayer dollar, and still give our employees the type of environment they need to succeed and to thrive," he said.

However, not everyone's looking forward to the renovations. Weiss says employees already working in Constitution Hall will see their cubicles shrink as a result.

Renovation on Constitution Hall and the Mason Building will begin next year, and Weiss says the state hopes to continue the trend with other buildings.